


Respondent

by unwindmyself



Series: curious shapes shift in the dark [48]
Category: True Blood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Exposition, Female Friendship, Fix-It, Gen, Vampire Family, agency and choices!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-28
Updated: 2014-06-28
Packaged: 2018-02-06 13:38:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1860033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unwindmyself/pseuds/unwindmyself
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An interlude wherein Willa and Tara have a serious talk and then Willa and Tara and Jessica have a very silly gossipy one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Respondent

**Author's Note:**

> Part one, "Fire."

“Are you doin’ better tonight?”

Somehow, Willa wasn’t expecting the question, so when Tara asks it in a voice all soft and not at all like it usually is, she actually jumps a little.  She doesn’t know why it’s such a surprise, but for one reason or another, it is, and as Tara waves her over to the couch and invites her to sit, she’s tugging on the hem of her dress like a six-year-old.

She flops down with a little sigh and draws her legs up under her, not turning to face Tara till she’s all arranged.  “I wasn’t doin’ bad last night,” she says, her tone far too light.

“I know,” Tara returns.  “You and Great-Auntie went off and had a big superspy adventure.  But that doesn’t change that you were cryin’ all through the day yesterday.”

There’s not much point in arguing that, is there, so Willa just makes a face and says, “’Cause of the sheets.”

“That, and if you hadn’t noticed Granddaddy left your doors cracked,” Tara points out.  “Meant it wasn’t hard to hear you goin’ on through that fancy-ass bathroom we share.”

Well, Willa’s room is right next to Tara and Pam’s, connected by none other than a shared ensuite.

“Jack and Jill,” Willa says before she can stop herself.  “Is what they’re called.  When the bathroom’s between both bedrooms.  I used to watch too many real estate shows.”

“Of course you did,” Tara says, but with a smile to show that it’s the nice kind of tease.  “That don’t tell me how you’re doin’, though.”

“I’m fine,” Willa mumbles, and she finally lets herself meet Tara’s eyes ‘cause that’s a good way to show she’s telling the truth, right? 

Right, apparently.  That’s one way, Tara thinks, that Willa _doesn’t_ take after her aunt – she’s considerably less good at lying.  She’s not horrible at it (she must have had at least a little bit of practice, like, pulling the wool over her dumbass dad’s eyes) but she’s a lot more innately honest.  So when she says she’s okay, Tara is inclined to believe her at least enough.

“Anyway,” Willa adds after a moment, “I think the fact I’m still a little numb is probably okay.  Easier to go in and do battle if you’re not worryin’, right?”

“Somethin’ like that, maybe,” Tara agrees.  “Numb works for some of us.  Hell, I’ve been tryin’ to keep myself numb one way or another for most of my life.”

Willa’s not sure if she’s supposed to ask about that; to be fair, she’s never been sure when to ask and when to just let it go. Her old roommate Mallory used to do that all the time, just throw out potentially significant pieces of information and offer no follow-up, and sometimes Willa wouldn’t ask at all and sometimes she _would_ ask and would be treated to some hilarious story and sometimes she’d be treated to a shrug and a terse “don’t worry about it” that means that it would be something worth worrying about, and Willa never got good at telling which reaction was impending.

But she decides to hazard it and ask anyway.

Or at least start to. “Did it work for you?” And the second it’s out she thinks, _Wow, A+, kid._

“Not as much as I wanted,” Tara says plainly.

Because the older girl doesn’t seem offended, Willa asks, “Why?”

It’s weird because usually Tara is so far from the personal confessions type, but she doesn’t mind right now. If anything she figures she probably owes Willa a bit of explanation, since everyone else here knows at least the basics. (Well. Nora might not, because she’s never told her and she’s pretty sure Eric never bothered to, but then again Nora has that ridiculous way of knowing everything, so there’s no telling.)

“Missin’ dad, drunk an’ fanatical mom, unstable childhood leadin’ into unstable adulthood,” she glosses, all shrugs and _don’t you dare pity me_ expression. “Shitty boyfriend leadin’ to hypnotized an’ then dead boyfriend leadin’ to abusive vampire boyfriend leadin’ to girlfriend who I pushed away for her own good during that whole coven mess –” She pauses, expecting that Willa will at least have heard about that, and she nods understandingly because yeah, she has. “Leadin’ to gettin' shot in the head and then gettin' turned, which was at that point the last thing I woulda wanted.”

“Shit,” Willa says, but Tara’s still got that expression so she can’t bring herself to say anything more than, “But you’re okay now.” It’s a statement, not a question.

“I ain’t tryin’ to go numb anymore,” Tara says, and for her that’s close enough.

Just then, Jessica comes bounding up the stairs, still fussing with the elastic in her hair. “Hey,” she says before flopping in the armchair, legs kicked up over one of the sides. “It’s just you two?”

“Nora and Eric are finishin’ up some grown-up business,” Willa supplies, trying not to giggle.

“Again?” Jessica exclaims, laughing. “Geez. I get they hadn’t seen each other in years an’ then she was all crazy so they’re makin’ up for lost time, but…”

“Nah, they just had some serious talk to talk,” Willa says. “Nothin’ scandalous. This time.”

“You say that like you seen things,” Tara interjects, raising an eyebrow playfully.

Willa raises an eyebrow right back, glad this has somehow turned into girltalk time. “You don’t wanna know,” she says. “And ‘sides, tellin’ tales outta school more than that isn’t nice. It’s nothin’ weird…” Or, anyway, weird to them, she supposes, and the way they explained it all made sense so it maybe isn’t weird in general, she’s just still adjusting to that. “Just, y’know. Intimate.”

“Even that’s more than I needed to know,” Tara declares wryly.

“Where’s Pam, then?” Jessica asks. “Since clearly you an’ her aren’t off bein’ similarly _intimate_.”

Tara knows she deserved that one, because, well, it’s not like the two couples in the house aren’t giving each other a run for their money in terms of who’s getting it on more often or more obviously. She doesn’t dignify it with a response, though, instead saying, “She’s been gettin' the cars ready since sundown. All the weapons an’ shit.”

“An’ shit,” Pam echoes, swinging in through the door. “We’re all ready for a full-on ambush, kids.”


End file.
